Getting Started
The Qwickly Attendance tool allows for attendance tracking and grading in Blackboard. Attendance can be considered as a part of the participation grade (see University Catalog and advice from Stearns Center).
Features:
- Student attendance can be marked manually, using a QR code check-in, or even based on student activity in Blackboard.
- Automatically create a graded column in Blackboard and keep a running grade for attendance.
- See a list of all students and work down the list or show one student at a time as the instructor calls names.
- Send an email to students when they are marked as absent for the day. Provide students with an acknowledgment that they were missed in class and a way to cross-reference with their attendance score.
- Export to CSV.
Accessing Attendance
Qwickly Attendance is available via a course Control Panel > Course Tools. If you plan to use it regularly, you may wish to add the Attendance (Qwickly) tool to the Course Menu. Students will be able to view their attendance record via Tools on the course menu. To hide from students, you can choose "Hide Link" for Attendance (Qwickly) option on the Tools page. You also can optionally hide the Grade Center column in the Full Grade Center.
Set-Up
Taking Attendance
There are four methods to taking attendance: Check In, List, One by One, and Student Activity.
- Check In: Students scan a QR code in the Qwickly app on their devices to check-in. Location confirmation can also be set to verify students were on campus. For a student example, watch the Qwickly Attendance Mobile App video. Note: The video shows check-in with a 4-digit code. To check in with a QR code, the student would scan a QR code in their environment with their device camera.
- List: Instructors manually mark individual attendance statuses.
- One by One: Like List, but only one student record is displayed at a time.
- Student Activity: Status is set automatically based on student activity in Blackboard. For example, all students who submit a selected assignment are marked present.
If you need to make a change to a past record, select Record to edit a student’s status. The change may take a few minutes to display in the Grade Center.
Sample Student Email
QR check-in requires students to use the Qwickly app. The app can optionally be used for other check-in types as well. Below is a sample email you may wish to send to students.
Hello [NAME],
Qwickly is now offering a Qwickly Attendance App for students. With this new App, students can check in from their mobile device instead of needing to log in to Blackboard and access Qwickly Attendance through their course. Students will also be able to review their course attendance records on the App. In addition to the existing PIN check-in, the Qwickly Attendance App includes a QR code check-in where students are required to scan a QR code in order to be marked as present for the course. Note that this option will need to be made available by your instructor and, when available, students can only scan the QR code with the Qwickly Attendance App. Students will be unable to scan the QR code from a browser (on a mobile device or on a computer). If you have any additional questions or feedback, please contact the ITS Support Center or enter a support ticket with the vendor at https://www.goqwickly.com/support/. Thank you, [INSTRUCTOR NAME] |
Student Activity Mode
What Happens in the Grade Center?
If attendance is graded, an Attendance column will automatically be added to the Full Grade Center. You can also choose whether or not you would like a Grade Center column for Absences as well.
Note: Instructors can mark a student present, absent, or excused, or create their own custom marking. Please be aware the EXCUSED status has a specific meaning to the Qwickly Attendance tool.
Status of Present (green checkmark): Student receives points for Attendance in the Grade Center (if selected) and Qwickly counts the user as in-class.
Status of Absent (red X): Student receives no points for Attendance in the Grade Center (if selected) and Qwickly counts the student as absent from the class.
Status of Excused (blue circle): Student receives no points for Attendance but is also not counted as absent in class. For a student who has been EXCUSED from class, the Attendance total score is now adjusted and will be different from all other students.
Note: For example, Attendance counts as 1 point per class. A semester course meets twice a week for 15 weeks therefore the total points possible for Attendance is 30. A student is EXCUSED from one class and attends 29 classes. The EXCUSED status does not penalize the student but each attended class is now worth more to the student to equal the total of 30 points. If the student is later ABSENT that ABSENT day will also count as more points against the student's total. As a result, the use of Excused may cause confusion - it is recommended to only mark a student as Present or Absent.